Phones from HTC, Palm, LG, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung were put to the eco-friendly test by carrier O2, who found that the Palm Pre Plus and LG Etna are the worst models you could buy for the environmentally-inclined.

LG may have over 10 WinMo phones planned for the next year, but that hasn't stopped it testing …
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The manufacturers who participated in the test apparently represent 93 per cent of the phones O2 sells in the UK, with Motorola, BlackBerry and Apple conspicuous by their absence.

Unsurprisingly, it was the Elm handset from Sony Ericsson which was found to be the most eco-friendly, with Sony Ericsson making five of the top ten phones in the list.

Over on the naughty list, it was the Palm Pre Plus and LG Etna which tied for least eco-friendly, with LG boasting the dubious claim of six phones not faring well in O2's Eco Rating test.

Sure, this might be usual PR fluff that networks dream up during the slow season, but in this case there's a real need to learn about the repercussions of buying certain handsets. It's something I'm beginning to think about a lot more now (admittedly spurred on by Greenpeace's annual eco findings). [O2 Eco Rating]